


Where are they now? Percy & Audrey

by iStiz



Series: Hogwarts: Where are they now? [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Ministry of Magic, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, just total and complete fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 07:06:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iStiz/pseuds/iStiz
Summary: This is my own imagining of what happened with Percy & Audrey after the war.





	Where are they now? Percy & Audrey

**Author's Note:**

> Audrey kept popping up in more of my stories and I realized we know nothing about her. This is my solution to that problem that nobody asked for.
> 
> I mean no disrespect to JK Rowling and I promise to treat her characters kindly (they belong to her, after all).
> 
> Enjoy!!

**Sometime 2004**

George knows that something is up long before Percy volunteers any information. He watches his brother zone out over dinner, spoon paused halfway to his mouth. George catches him mumbling to himself and pacing a hole in the floor. But he really starts to worry when Percy shows up late and frazzled to their last two business meetings with Ron.

It all comes to a boiling point the evening he hears Percy growl in frustration before apparating straight out of their flat. George is left completely alone and confused. He fire calls Angelina straight away and begs her to come over.

Angelina listens to George fret about his brother with a growing smirk on her face.

“And what do you think is so funny?!” George yells at her. “Percy is acting strangely! This isn’t a joke! The last time he…I don’t want to think about how he was before, but he’s starting to scare me. Help me out here, Johnson!” He is close to tears.

Angelina pushes on George’s shoulders and forces him to sit on the sofa. “Look, I don’t think there’s anything _wrong_ with Percy.”

“Then why is he leaving me?” he asks, voice sounding small.

“I’m no expert, and he’s _your_ brother, but it sounds to me like Percy’s got himself a lady.”

“A- a lady? As in a girlfriend a lady?? No! He would have told me!”

“Would he have, though? I’ve known Percy as long as I’ve known you and I don’t remember him ever having a girlfriend. He was in a committed relationship with the Hogwarts rule book, maybe, but not an actual living person.”

“But…we’re…we’re brothers. Bill and Charlie have each other, Ron and Harry have each other, and Perce and I have each other. I told him about _you_. He should have told me…”

“Maybe you should show him that he can trust you with something like that,” Angelina suggests. Together, they come up with a plan.

* * *

Percy is talking to Shacklebolt in the Ministry Atrium when he first sees her. She doesn’t see him.

The next time Percy sees her, he is working at his desk in the Department of Magical Transportation. He thinks she smiles at him and he freezes, ink dripping from his quill and covering his parchment in blotches.

The third time Percy sees her, he walks flat into a closed door and drops the arm load of files he is carrying. She definitely sees him this time because she laughs softly as she helps him pick everything up. Percy tries desperately to say something- anything- to her in thanks, but all that comes out is a small squeaking sound. She laughs (though not meanly) before tucking her hair behind her ear and walking off.

Percy can’t get her out of his mind and he doesn’t even know her name! He frequently daydreams and loses concentration. He forgets about his quarterly department meeting with the other department heads. He is late to two Wheezes planning sessions in a row.

Then, suddenly, inspiration strikes. He apparates straight from their flat to the Ministry. Percy claims to have found something belonging to his mystery woman (accidentally left when she helped him pick up his dropped files). He starts asking around, giving her description, in hopes that someone knows who she is and where in the Ministry she works. It takes two weeks of digging to find her.

* * *

“Daddy!” Dominique shouts through their home. “Someone’s coming through the floo!”

Bill walks in just in time to see his middle brother stepping through the fireplace and into their sitting room. “Ah, Perce. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“I need help!” Percy all but screams.

Bill shoos away Dominique, just in case it’s something she shouldn’t hear, and gestures for Percy to sit down. Percy just waves him off. “Alright, stand then. But what’s wrong?”

He tells Bill all about his misadventures with the woman at the Ministry. Bill is kind enough to not laugh _too_ much, though he can’t help but let out a loud bark when Percy tells him about walking into a door. When he’s finally through, Percy drops down onto the sofa as though just talking about the whole ordeal has worn him out. He turns to his brother and says, “So what should I do, Bill?”

“Simple. Ask her to lunch.”

“But _how_?”

Bill looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Say something like, ‘Hello. Are you hungry? Can I escort you to the nearest café for lunch?’”

“But I don’t even know her!”

“You said you know her name, now; that’s a start.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’s! You may not know her yet but you’ll never _get_ to know her if you don’t get off your arse and make the first move! Show her you’re interested.”

Percy nods slowly. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I’m just scared.”

“You have nothing to be afraid of,” Bill assures him. “Our little Ronnie-kins needed Charlie to talk some sense into him before he proposed to Hermione, and they’ve been in love since they were kids. It’s normal to feel nervous but the only way to start is to put yourself out there.”

They wrap each other up in a brotherly hug. When Percy starts to pull away, Bill catches his shoulder. “I do have one question, though: Why didn’t you just ask George?”

“I…” Percy scrubs a hand down his face. “George and I goof on each other a lot. I give him a hard time for dating- I mean, oops, I’m not supposed to have said anything. Forget that bit. But, the point is…This was one thing I didn’t want him to tease me about. I know I don’t even know Audrey yet- that’s her name, by the way- but whenever I see her…”

“I think I get it. Just don’t keep it from him for too long, yeah?”

The brothers say goodbye and Percy floos to the Ministry. He is determined to do this right.

* * *

Audrey is working at her desk in the Department of Animagus Registry when she thinks she sees something dart across the corner of her vision. She looks up and watches a tall red-haired man walk past the doorway to the department. Then, she watches him walk past again. And again. The fourth time he goes by, he peeks into the department and freezes when he makes eye contact with her. Audrey gives him a smile and a small wave.

The red-haired man’s jaw drops open and he makes an aborted attempt at a wave back before his hand falls back at his side. Audrey can’t help but laugh. Every time she sees this man he’s like this, but he’s just so cute when he’s making a fool of himself. When all he can manage to do is stand there she gets up from her desk and meets him out in the corridor.

“Hello,” Audrey greets him with an extended hand. “My name is Audrey. I’ve seen you around before.”

“I-I-I know,” Percy stutters out. “I mean- I didn’t- What I’m trying to say is-”

Audrey laughs again, though not unkindly. “What’s _your_ name?” she asks with her hand still stretched out towards him.

Percy forces himself out of his stupor and shakes her hand. It’s soft and warm and he never wants to let go, but then he looks up at her and remembers that he has a question to answer. “PER-cy,” his voice cracks. He clears his throat with a cringe and tries again. “Percy Weasley.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be related to Hermione Weasley, would you?”

“She’s my sister-in-law, actually. How do know her? If I may ask…”

“She was called in as a major witness on the Rita Skeeter animagus case. That was my first big assignment, but Hermione was a real professional and I enjoyed working with her.”

Percy nods knowingly. “My baby brother is lucky to have married her.” Having reached a lull in their conversation, Percy looks anywhere but at the beautiful woman in front of him.

“Was there something you needed?” Audrey asks after a minute or so.

“This may be forward of me, but could I take you to lunch this afternoon?”

“I already have plans for lunch,” she says regretfully and Percy’s heart drops. “But I’m free for dinner!” she quickly adds.

Percy’s head shoots up and he can’t stop the cautious smile that spread across his face. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” she says with a matching smile of her own. “As long as it’s not someplace fancy. I never know how to act in a place where there are more forks than people.”

“Oh, yes, of course. The Leaky okay? I know the landlady.”

“Well, don’t you just know everybody?” Audrey jokes.

Percy blushes and start to stutter again. “I-I…I didn’t mean anything by it!”

Thankfully, Audrey cuts him off with a gentle hand to his shoulder. “I’m just teasing. The Leaky is more than fine and I think it’s nice you know the landlady. I usually fix myself dinner shortly after I get done here, so should we meet at 6:00?”

He nods eagerly, which makes Audrey laugh again.

Dinner that evening is nice. They talk about their families, their work, their hobbies and interests, and when the meal is done they go for a walk around a nearby park. At the end of the night, Percy walks her to the nearest apparition point. His hands are sweating and he doesn’t know what to do. Audrey, thankfully, makes that decision for him.

She leans forward and kisses Percy on the cheek. “This was nice. Don’t wait so long to ask me out next time.”

Percy shouts, “What about next week??” but he waited too long and Audrey is already gone.

* * *

George is lock up Wheezes a few months later when he catches sight of his brother walking arm in arm with a young lady, the pair eating ice creams despite the chilly weather. George casts a disillusionment charm and follows them through the street. After a few minutes of this he starts to feel creepy and decides to go home and wait for his brother instead.

Percy does not get back to their shared flat until much later, and he does not expect to find his brother waiting up for him. He screams and holds a hand over his chest when George stands up from the sofa.

“For Merlin’s sake! Why are you lurking in the shadows?”

George has been thinking about what to say for the last two hours but all of the fire leeches out of him once he’s actually faced with his brother. All he can get out is, “How long?”

“How long _what_?” Percy says, more confused than anything.

“How long have you been seeing that girl?”

“A couple of months. Why does that matter?”

“A couple of months and you still haven’t told me? I told you about Angelina after onw week”

“Only because I walked in on you too snogging on the sofa!”

“Are you embarrassed of me? Is that why you haven’t introduced her to me yet?”

Percy dares to look into George’s watery eyes. “Georgey…How could you think that?”

George shrugs and attempts to not look too pathetic. “I figured there had to be a reason you were leaving me behind, so maybe it’s because you’re ashamed of Wheezes. I mean, you have this important job at the Ministry and here I am; a twenty-six-year-old prankster who never learned to grow up.”

“You own your own business- a very successful business, I may add- and you have such a capacity to love.”

“Ew.”

“Shut up, I’m complimenting you here.”

“Go on, then.”

Percy rolls his eyes, but it’s done fondly. “I could never be embarrassed of you. You’re my brother. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I was awful to you when you started dating Angelina, and I was a coward and didn’t want you to do the same to me. You’ve always been good with people and I’m just…not.”

George slings an arm over Percy’s shoulders. “Well, you managed to snag this one so you must not be too bad.”

“She’s _amazing_ ,” Percy says with a sigh.

* * *

When Percy and Audrey decide to move in with each other a year later, Percy makes sure to not keep it a secret from his brother. George admits that he and Angelina were considering the same thing. They go out and help each other look for new places to live. It’s serendipity that they find two houses for sale in the same block, not far from the Ministry.

As they are packing up boxes in their apartment Percy asks Audrey, “Are you sure you don’t mind living so close to my brother?”

Audrey sets down the tape before she answers. “George means a lot to you. I get that. And we’re moving into our own home- starting our own life together- so what kind of monster would I be to tell you we couldn’t live down the road from him?”

Percy nods and uses his wand to levitate their linens into an open cardboard box. “And you don’t regret it?”

“Regret what?”

“Starting a life with me. I mean-”

“You stop right there, Percy.” Even though her voice is commanding, her hand is soft as she sets it on Percy’s arm and forces him to stop packing. “I already told you I don’t hold your past against you. It’s obvious that you have changed and you’re always trying to make up for the things you did. You give to every charity and you give so much love to your family…I love you, Percy. I wish you’d believe me.”

He wraps his arms around her and holds on for dear life. “I do believe you,” he whispers. “I just keep waiting for the moment when you decide I’m not worth it.”

“You’re always worth it.” She pulls away enough to kiss his temple.

Percy looks down at his shoes. “Even if I never want kids? Even if I still get nightmares sometimes? Even if-”

“Even if everything.”

“I don’t deserve you,” he says sweetly.

“Maybe not,” Audrey teases, which makes Percy look up in shock. “Kidding! I’m kidding. However, I’m completely serious when I say this: If it takes our entire lives, I’m going to show you that you deserve happiness.”

“Our entire lives? That’s a long time.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the others if you want :)


End file.
